At least 183 passengers from Islamabad were stranded in the Kuala Lumpur airport after a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, Boeing 777 was sent back to Islamabad, as the flight is in a legal dispute. The passengers raised complaints in the name of PIA and the Pakistan Embassy for not providing them proper hospitality.
A few passengers even alleged that the PIA did not arrange for stay that forced them to sleep on the floor of the Kuala Lumpur airport, for two days. The Pakistan embassy officials allegedly did not inform the passengers about the legal dispute, instead they were told that the Boeing 777 had some technical issue. On Friday, the PIA flight was stopped from parking on the runway of KL airport after a court order read that the flight is under a legal dispute of $14 million that is unpaid.
PIA had leased the Boeing 777 from AerCap in Dublin, in 2015. The minister for aviation, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, on Sunday said the PIA couldn’t make the payment due to the pandemic.
On Saturday, 118 passengers were sent back to Islamabad in a flight via Dubai, while 65 others boarded another plane that on Saturday that reached Islamabad via Doha on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the PIA in a tweet clarified: “A PIA aircraft has been held back by a local court in Malaysia taking one sided decision pertaining to a legal dispute between PIA and another party pending in a UK court. The passengers are being looked after and alternate arrangements for their travel have been finalised.”
